BESTIÁRIO

Interesting debut album by this Mexican band. This is guitar driven prog (two guitarists in addition to bass and drums). The music is almost progressive guitar fusion. The keyboards are present only in two of the nine tracks. Unfortunately I find the guitar playing a bit too repetitive to make this a meritorious prog album. The musicians are very capable players especially the electric guitarist Francisco Estrada who shows his skills throughout the album. In some tracks the playing is quite tasty but in some tracks it borders unnecessary wankery. The skills can't be doubted but it needs more to make an album that is a great listening experience after repeated listens. It could be that this isn't exactly my thing. I'm sure that people who prefer technical abilities to compositions will appreciate this album a lot more than I do.

The acoustic guitar player Ricardo Moreno used to be a member of the famous Mexican band Iconoclasta. He was later a member of Praxis as well.

Conclusion: For people who enjoy technical guitar driven prog.

Another great album from Mexico!

This time, i am talking about Metaconciencia, which was formed in 1996 as a trio and then another musician joined the band, but it was until 2003 when they released their first material.

Ricardo Moreno (Iconoclasta) and Francisco Estrada are both guitar players, and i can guarantee that the sound of those guitar always together is excellent in this album, Jose Ramon Porrua in the bass, and Carlos Bonegui on drums complete this group, which make instrumental music, i mean without vocals. They have been influenced by King Crimson (you will notice it in the album) and by The Flower Kings among others,in fact Metaconciencia has opened for TFK and have had some rehearsal together, you can go to their website and listen to those songs wih TFK and Tomas Bodin.

Bestiario is the name of this CD, with an hour of great music divided in 9 one-word name songs, well actually there`s a date as a title, since this first song you will notice the way of the album, guitar oriented with excellent solos and complex arrangements, but also they have a jazzy side and even an spanish side when listening to the acoustic guitar, a think that a enjoy a lot is the fact of improvisation which is notable in the album. Actually i think the first song is one of the best without a doubt, if you like guitar oriented albums you might enjoy it, but it`s not for everyone, but not the guitars are the only good think, the bass playing is very good and you will notice it in the third song, drums playing is also great, so i could say that the music done here is pure brilliance, closer to virtuosism because some of the guitar tunes and solos could contest with any great guitar player, and the sound is clear between the guitars, whici make it better i think. The complexity of the songs could make them boring to any person wchich dont appreciate prog music, but to us it could be so loved and appreciated of course, another thing that i can say is that there are also sudden changes in some songs that are jazzy but in a minute becomes heavier, and others viceversa but always with the predominant sound of both Moreno`s and Estrada`s acoustic and electric guitars, in the fourth song you can have a moment of calm and a slow nice song. The title track is another awesome song but this time showing us a darker and atomespheric beggining which suddenly turns to a symphonic song, this time keyboards appears with a classic 70`s sound, this epic could blow your mind away.

I would say that this is not a masterpiece, because it doesn`t fill me entirely and because some passages are quite alike between a couple of songs, but after all i HIGHLY recommend it to any prog fan, very interesting, complex and creative album,lovable to any guitar lover, 4 stars this time.

Another of those unknown Mexican albums, a worth addition to your collection.

This band is a pleasure for people want to listen to human dimension progressive rock. I explain myself : the compositions are simple but the musicians believe in what they play and are generous. The interpretation is really good and they give life to their music. The association of accoustic an electric guitars gives a real originality to this band. The electric solos are really impressive, the accoustic pieces are appreciable. This first album is a good discovery for every people who loves worked progressive rock. The only problem is sometimes the too simple structures of the pieces but they don't search for it and succeed materialize a good prog rock album ! GOOD DISCOVERY!

GUITAR ATTACK!

If you are into artists like California Guitar Trio, King Crimson, Tony Levin, Liquid Tension Experiment, Bozzio Levin Stevens, Cabezas De Cera and especially Iconoclasta for sure you'll enjoy this one.

The difference is that these guys are more focused in the guitar playing skills rather than composition complexity. Don't get me wrong, the songs are entertaining, rhythmic and complex enough to satisfy most of Prog listeners, just don't expect odd music a la RIO/Avant- garde or a multi-instrumental feast.

The songs flow easily demonstrating the technical virtuosity of the musicians, especially both guitar players Francisco Estrada and Ricardo Moreno (he plays in Iconoclasta too, so that´s why the sound is similar to this band), who print the characteristic sound of the band, sometimes jazzy, sometimes bluesy, acoustic in a few moments, heavy in some others and even symphonic in one track. I can hear some similarities (Influences) here and there with great guitar players as Fripp, Howe, Hackett, McLaughlin, Lifeson (especially in the acoustic parts) and Di Meola.

Highlights: The opener "Garhi", a 10 minute piece with lots of interesting rhythm changes and guitar layers and a jazzy feeling, "Paradigma" which besides the great guitar effects also has a powerful rhythmic base, "Improv" is another demonstration that these guys know how to play guitar, the title track "Bestiario" changes the direction a little bit, becoming more symphonic and including lush keyboards from the beginning to the end, excellent drumming and good guitars too but less dominant.

As said before, i would recommend this one to anyone that like guitar oriented Prog and the aforementioned bands. These are great musicians indeed that unfortunately won´t be playing together anymore as Francisco Estrada told my sister(they work in the same place) that each member has their own plans, so it seems that this will be the 1st and last release that we will see from the band.

4 stars.

Viva el Prog!

Metaconciencia was a Mexican group, formed in 1996, fronted by two guitarists, Francisco Estrada and Ricardo Moreno.Bass duties were handed to Jose Ramon Porrua and the drum kit was tortured by Carlos Bonequi.A discovery of the Musea label, the Mexicans released their sole effort ''Bestiario'' in 2003.Moreno is responsible also for the few keyboard parts displayed in this album.

They sound some sort of a Latin version of KING CRIMSON and closer to the Chilean Prog scene, who are the leaders of this kind of complex prog sound with the electric guitar as the leading instrument.The album is split in two different forms.First one, consisting more or less of the first six pieces, is a largely electric, instrumental style with ROBERT FRIPP-like guitar parts, covering a range from Heavy to Jazz to Blues Rock, flavored by the usual presence of acoustic guitars, which are responsible for the Latin-spiced echoes of the album.Keyboards are basically absent and the music is an electroacoustic manifestation between Latin Music and cold Prog Rock with a jazzy rhythm section, passing through atmospheric dissonances and proposing often a very technical music with KING CRIMSON being the absolute reference point.From the 11-min. title-track and on things are going to change a bit.Because ''Bestiario'' sounds more of a Heavy-Symphonic Rock mix with Moreno taking his place behind the organ and Estrada offering another technical performance on electric guitars, the music of full of complex rhythms and changes, a bit more alive and rich, with a pretty dark and unique sound and offering even somekind of melody in the solos.''1899'' is some sort of intricate Prog Fusion in the vein of NATHAN MAHL and SPACED OUT with synths and electric guitars and an overall jazzy mood with echoes from KING CRIMSON, while ''Antartica'' is a good delivery on Psychedelic Fusion with a beautiful atmosphere, led by a constant rhythm pattern and changing parts on the solo guitar.

The band appeared to have been active for a few more years, but eventually the members took a permanent break with each of them working on their own career, leading to the demise of Metaconciencia.

Interesting mix of haunting KING CRIMSON-ian Heavy-Fusion with Latin acoustics.Not fully entertaining due to lack of some melodic content, but definitely convincing and rewarding.Recommended.